The 2017 BET Awards, hosted by Leslie Jones, was jam-packed with drama, tributes, and performances from an abundance of R&B and Hip Hop’s finest. If you missed it or just did not feel like sitting through a four-hour long event, I got you covered on some of the night’s biggest highlights on and off the screen.
Bruno Mars and the Hooligans live up to their name as they kick-off the night with “Perm”. The group had enough energy and fun for the whole crowd the moment they stepped onto the stage. Bruno was nominated for five awards, two of which he would later win for “Video of the Year” with ’24K Magic’ and “Best Male R&B/Hip Hop Artist”.
Leslie Jones was one of the brightest on the stage, hitting the crowd with her own boisterous and quirky comedy. The “Ghostbusters” actress even took the time to laugh at herself and the knee brace she chose to wear outside of her ripped pants. Keep moving, Leslie! 50 years looks good on you.
Some of the major highlights also include Remy Ma winning her first nomination for “Best Female R&B/Hip Hop Artist”. The rapper had a few choice words to say after receiving her award, quite obviously a jab for her long time rival, Nicki Minaj.
“Y’all bitches got fat while we starved. Shots in your ass, pads in your bras.” She laughs as the crowd reacts.
“Y’all some liars it ain’t no facts in your songs. And yeah, that crown is coming back to the Bronx.”
Chance the Rapper also received much love for the night as he awarded this year’s
Humanitarian Award. Chance has continued to make a name for himself, as a musician and a humble advocate for American cities, such as his hometown Chicago, which are losing funding in their education system. Chance donated one million dollars to Chicago public schools, thus, prompting other celebrities and people of power to do the same. Former First Lady Michelle Obama also helped congratulate the 24-year-old rapper, calling him a “friend” and thanking him for his dedication to his community.
In his acceptance speech, Chance says, “Being 24 and getting something like this, it doesn’t feel deserved yet. But like I said my God is putting the pressure on me. So I can become who I’m supposed to be. I’m a good man and I can become a better man. Thank you Miss Lee, thank you BET, thank you black people, thank you mom, I love y’all.”
Congrats, Chance!
Nearly everyone was on their feet at the end of the night as one of America’s loved boy band was celebrated. The group was awarded BET Lifetime Achievement Award.
Three generations of “New Edition” sang and danced to some of the group’s greatest hits including; “Candy Girl”, “Can You Stand the Rain”, Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative”, Bel Biv DeVoe’s “Poison”. The group ended their performance with “If It Isn’t Love”, with all members of the New Edition biopic in the attendance.
The drama eventually hit a high note during an interview with Migos, Joe Budden, DJ Akademiks and Nadeska Alexis. Migos ended the night as winners of “Best Group” and “Best Collaboration” for ‘Bad and Boujee’ but not everyone seemed happy about their success. From what we can see in the interview, Budden is already giving off some tense vibes judging from his disinterested posture and glum expression for most of the interview. Akademiks is trying, but failing, to hold a proper interview due to the noise of the red carpet.
He makes a comment about Takeoff’s nonexistent verse in Bad and Boujee, to which the rapper vehemently denies. But before Akademiks can go any further, Budden finally gets a word in (after a few seconds of trying to interrupt), to announce, “We gotta wrap this up though”.
Akademiks reluctantly agrees, but before cutting the interview, he takes the time to pay homage to Migos and their success. Budden’s face instantly goes sour, he stands, drops his mic, and promptly walks away from the interview. It is obvious that Migos have already noticed his sudden attitude and are more than ready to confront Budden before he can get too far. Soon the camera’s view is obscured by security as a portion of Migos’ crew, security, and others move to the scene.
It is unclear how far things were resolved, but not too long afterward, Migos were also involved in another confrontation. This time with Chris Brown.
TMZ reports that after Chris Brown finished his premiere of “Pie” with Future, a member of his entourage shoved at Quavo, possibly hitting him and tossed the entire vicinity around them into madness. There was a scuffle as a member from Migos tried to de-escalate the situation, but was also punched as a result.
In TMZ’s latest post, Chris Brown can be seen being held back from the majority of the brawl until finally being led away to his car. DJ Khaled and Future can also be seen, surrounded by security as the chaos spewed into the parking lot. Eventually, both groups went their separate ways, finally ending the 2017 Bet Awards. The video can be seen below.